Coppola directs Eagles to victory
DANVERS -- In a grind-it-out game between two strong rushing attacks and two stingy defenses, both Central Catholic and St. John's Prep had their share of big plays.
There was only one difference: The Prep's big plays ended in touchdowns. Central Catholic's longest run of the day ended in heat exhaustion.
In an annual nonleague battle between perennial powers ranked in the Globe's Top 20, the No. 5 Eagles took advantage of two 63-yard runs by Derek Coppola that sandwiched halftime, cruising to a 27-17 win at Cronin Stadium. Meanwhile, Central Catholic star Chris Morales suffered from what his coach called ``heat exhaustion" after breaking off a 59-yard run late in the first half, and only returned for one defensive series.
``But you have to be able to overcome something like that," said Central Catholic coach Chuck Adamopoulos. ``We had spurts where we kind of went to sleep, and they took advantage of it."
In the first half, that's about all St. John's Prep did -- the Eagles only ran nine offensive plays. But it was the Prep's defense that came through early.
On the Raiders' first possession, quarterback Matt Smith short-armed a screen pass, and the Prep's Peter Mugford snagged it and burst back 22 yards for the touchdown. Mugford ended up hunched over on the sideline after the play, his stomach unable to handle the excitement.
Central Catholic, meanwhile, couldn't have responded much better for the rest of the first half. Until the final two minutes of the second quarter, the Raiders outgained the Prep, 107-13, but couldn't capitalize, turning the ball over on downs once inside the Eagles' 10-yard line.
With two minutes left before the break, the tide turned. Prep quarterback Scott Darby called for a pitch to Coppola on the left side, and the speedy junior took it 63 yards to the 2-yard line. Fullback Patrick Higgins scored on the next play.
Central Catholic, the Globe's No. 11 team, came back with Morales's 59-yard run to set up a Colin Burkardt field goal before halftime, but on the second half's first play from scrimmage, Coppola's second 63-yard run -- up the left sideline -- finished in the end zone.
``I think that just knocked them out of the game," said Coppola (10 carries, 167 yards, 2 TDs). ``They seemed like they were getting tired, and we just kept running at them."
The Raiders (1-1) proved they had some gas left in the tank. After linebacker Mike Fraser intercepted Darby in the third quarter, Central Catholic quarterback Shain Jowett lofted a screen pass over a blitz on fourth down, allowing Mike Leavitt to rumble for a 30-yard touchdown.
But with the Eagles' lead sliced to 20-10, the hosts embarked on a six-minute, game-clinching drive that ended in Coppola's second touchdown run, an 8-yard burst. At that point, the Prep (2-0) led, 27-10, with six minutes to play, and Leavitt's second touchdown only served to make the final score more respectable.
